Single-loading a Henry is a pain in the posterior. Single-loading a Henry in a hurry is an invitation to a smashed fingertip (I still think my finger was clear!). I can single-load a Spencer about as fast as loading a Sharp's carbine.

I actually won a match once doing that: I shot a converted Spencer carbine borrowed from a friend in a 20 round timed match. After shooting the magazine empty, I single-loaded the remaining shots. I finished the day with high score and the fastest time.* The old Spencers are the only old-school lever guns I shoot well, I wish I could afford one.

*(There were a couple of guys I think could have beat me, but I shot in the breezy morning while they shot in the calm afternoon. By the time their magazines were empty, I don't think they could even see the backstop!

Logged

In my book a pioneer is a man who turned all the grass upside down, strung bob-wire over the dust that was left, poisoned the water, cut down the trees, killed the Indian who owned the land and called it progress. Charles M. Russell